Combination reusable carton and lift-out carry tray for paper and three-way cover

ABSTRACT

A completely reusable carton and lift-out carry tray for paper and three-way cover. The cover is attached to a hinged flap on the rear wall of the carton and can be used as a hinged cover. The wall cover can be completely removed and used as a lift-off cover and as a carrying tray. The cover is attached to the carton with an adhesive which is strong in shear and weak in tension. Thus the front flange of the cover may be readily detached from the front wall of the carton and the rear flange of the cover may be readily detached from the hinged flap. The front flange of the cover may be slit and inserted inside the carton for better cover stability.

United States Patent [191 Butler 1 1 Mar. 11, 1975 [5 1 COMBINATION REUSABLE CARTON AND 2,989,221 6/1961 Butler 229/15 0 CARRY TRAY FOR PAPER AND 3,173,600 3/1965 Michalka 229/44 CB 3,722,782 3/1973 Collie 229/39 R THREE-WAY COVER Ralph R. Butler, Erie, Pa.

Hammermill Paper Company, Erie, Pa.

Filed: July 11, 1972 Appl. No.: 270,868

Inventor:

Assignee:

US. Cl. 229/44 R, 229/17 G, 229/23 R, 229/1 WB Int. Cl. B65d 5/66 Field of Search 229/17 G, 15, 43, 44 R, 229/45, 51 WE References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner-William 1. Price Assistant ExaminerBruce H. Bernstein 57 I ABSTRACT A completely reusable carton and lift-out carry tray for paper and three-way cover. The cover is attached to a hinged flap on the rear wall of the carton and can be used as a hinged cover. The wall cover can be completely removed and used as a lift-off cover and as a carrying tray. The cover is attached to the carton with an adhesive which is strong in shear and weak in tension. Thus the front flange of the cover may be readily detached from the front wall of the carton and the rear flange of the cover may be readily detached from the hinged flap. The front flange of the cover may be slit and inserted inside the carton for better cover stability.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENHED 3,870,222.

SHEET 2 (IF 2 COMBINATION REUSABLE CARTON AND LIFT-OUT CARRY TRAY FOR PAPER AND I THREE-WAY COVER GENERAL STATEMENT OF INVENTION The present carton is not damaged when opened and the carton is designed with the three-way top to be completely reusable at the users choice in the simplest possible manner to meet'the customers requirement without any retaping or regluing. The customers three options with the three-way cover are:

l. A hinged cover, which by simply snapping open the front of the cover provides the customer with all the end user needs of a reclosable hinged top.

2. A hinged cover with a tuck-in flap, like those in previous cartons, is made by first cutting both ends of the front flap adjacent the corners before snapping thefront flap loose from the front edge of the front of the carton.

3. A lift-off top is made by simply snapping loose the adhesive holding the front and the rear of the ,cover. A detachable tray is obtained by inverting the lift-off top already described.

REFERENCE TO PRIOR ART This invention constitutes an improvement over US. Pat. No. 2,989,221 and the cover may be reused as in the manner of US Pat. No. 2,880,866, but with a solid top instead of a top with four stitched flaps.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide an improved container for cut paper.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reusable carton with a three-way top suited for use with cut paper.

Another object of the invention is to provide in combination a carton and cover therefor.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor detailsof construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the carton according to the invention, with the cover shown open and both ends of the front flap cut to provide a tuck-in feature.

FIG. 2 is a view of the carton shown in FIG. 1 with the cover closed.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the carton with the cover removed; the cover is shown supported as a tray.

FIG. 4 is a view of the cut-out blank for making the carton.

FIG. 5 is a view of the cut-out blank for making the carrying pack.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Now with more particular reference to the drawings, a carton is shown in combination with a cover 80 and a carrying pack 50.

The carton 10 has a first end wall 12 and a second end wall 13, a front wall 16, a rear wall 15, all attached to the bottom 17 and extending upwardly therefrom. The front wall 16, second end wall 13, first end wall 12 and rear wall 15 terminate at upper edges 25, 23, 22 and 42 respectively of equal height. The rear wall 15 has a score line 24 parallel to the upper edge 42 and extending from the lower extreme of cut-out 46 to the lower extreme of cut-out 47. The score line 24 and cutouts 46 and 47 form the hinged flap 14. The hinged flap 14 is attached by adhesive to the inside of the rear flange 88 of the cover 80. The cover 80 has top 78 integrally attached to rear flange 88, end flanges 72 and 73, and front flange 79 at scores lines 89, 87, and 71 respectively. All the flanges are of equal height and terminate at edges 81, 82, 83 and 84 respectively. It will be seen from inspection of FIG. 1 of the drawing that flanges 72, 73, 76 and 77 have an extension downward from the top 78 substantially less than half the extension upward of the walls 12, 13, 15 and 16 above the bottom of the carton. This allows the cover to swing open freely. When the cover is removed, it can be used as a tray as shownin the bottom part of FIG. 3.

The bottom 17 of the carton is made up of flaps 18, 19, 20 and 21 which are integrally connected to the walls 16, l5, l2 and 13 at scores lines 28, 33, 32 and 36. Cut-outs 43, 44 and 45 are made in line with scored lines 31, 30 and 29 to allow the folding of the bottom 17 with edges 37, 38, 39 and 40 respectively. The-bottom 17, ends 12 and 13, front 16, and rear 15 can be made of a single section of cardboard as shown in FIG.

A suitable strip 11 is placed at the intersection 34 of edges 48 and 49 for holding the carton in assembled position.

The carry pack 50, shown in FIG. 5, may likewise be made of a single piece of cardboard with sides 51, 52, 62 and 63. The carry pack 50 is made up of a pack bottom 55, sides 56 and 57, flaps 58 and 59, and handles 60 and 61. The pack has scored lines 66 and 69 which form the pack bottom 55. Scored lines 65 and 68, which form pack sides 56 and 57 and the scored lines 64 and 67 form the handles 60 and 61 respectively. Finger holes 53 are placed on handles 60 and 61 for easy carrying. The carton and its contents will be delivered to the user with the cover uncut, as shown in FIG. 3. To open the carton, the. user may slit the cover at 74 and 75, with a suitable knife and at an angle of approximately 45 to the front edge of the top. He can then insert his fingers under the flap 79 and lift it loose from the adhesive in the area indicated by the lines at 76.

If it is desired to use the cover as a tray, he can likewise remove the cover from the back flap by inserting his fingers between the hinged flap 14 and the rear flange 88 thereby breaking loose the adhesive enclosed, for example, in the dashed lines 77.

It is customary in the trade to pack 10 reams of approximately 50 pounds of paper in a carton and, therefore, the carton would normally contain 50 pounds of paper. Each pack can contain 25 pounds of paper. This paper can be further distributed by placing several packages of paper in the cover tray'for convenient transportation to where it is to be used.

The adhesive which is used will be strong in shear but weak in tension. Some materials having such properties are found in ordinary drafting tape, however, many other adhesives having this property are well known to those skilled in the art of cartons and adhesives. This type of adhesive releases when a snap-type action is used, as between the cover flap 79 and the front wall 16 of the carton.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In combination, a carton and a cover, said cover being adapted to be released at the front to be used as a swinging cover and selectively to be detached both front and back providing a removable cover to be removed and used as a carrying tray,

said carton having a bottom, a front wall, a rear wall,

a first end wall and a second end wall defining an enclosure,

said front wall, said first end wall, said second end wall and said rear wall rising upwardly from said bottom and terminating at upper edges all disposed at substantially the same distance from the said bottom,

said cover having a front flange, a rear flange, a first end flange, a second end flange, and a smooth onepiece top,

said top being of substantially the same area as said carton bottom,

said flanges being fixed to said top and extending downward therefrom,

said flanges having extensions from said top downwardly of substantially less than half the extension of said walls of said carton upwardly from said bottom, said flanges being fixed together at the adjacent edges,

a scored line extending across said rear wall of said carton parallel to the top of said rear wall defining a hinge flap,

said scored line being spaced below said rear wall top edge approximately the distance equal to the width of said flanges,

means fixing said rear flange of said cover to said hinge flap of said carton whereby said cover can be used as a swinging cover,

said means fixing said rear flange to said hinge flap comprising an adhesive weak in tension yet strong in shear whereby said cover can be removed and used as a tray having a bottom and four sides to carry two reams of paper.

2. The carton recited in claim 1 wherein said front of said cover is attached to said front wall of said carton by means of an adhesive strong in shear but weak in tension.

3. The carton recited in claim 1 wherein said carton is made from a single piece of cardboard.

4. The carton recited in claim 1 wherein said carton is for storing and transporting paper.

5. The carton recited in claim 1 wherein at least one carry pack is supported in said carton,

said carry pack is made of a single piece of cardboard.

6. The carton recited in claim 1 wherein the said carton has a bottom area substantially equal to twice the area of a sheet of letter paper. 

1. In combination, a carton and a cover, said cover being adapted to be released at the front to be used as a swinging cover and selectively to be detached both front and back providing a removable cover to be removed and used as a carrying tray, said carton having a bottom, a front wall, a rear wall, a first end wall and a second end wall defining an enclosure, said front wall, said first end wall, said second end wall and said rear wall rising upwardly from said bottom and terminating at upper edges all disposed at substantially the same distance from the said bottom, said cover having a front flange, a rear flange, a first end flange, a second end flange, and a smooth one-piece top, said top being of substantially the same area as said carton bottom, said flanges being fixed to said top and extending downward therefrom, said flanges having extensions from said top downwardly of substantially less than half the extension of said walls of said carton upwardly from said bottom, said flanges being fixed together at the adjacent edges, a scored line extending across said rear wall of said carton parallel to the top of said rear wall defining a hinge flap, said scored line being spaced below said rear wall top edge approximately the distance equal to the width of said flanges, means fixing said rear flange of said cover to said hinge flap of said carton whereby said cover can be used as a swinging cover, said means fixing said rear flange to said hinge flap comprising an adhesive weak in tension yet strong in shear whereby said cover can be removed and used as a tray having a bottom and four sides to carry two reams of paper.
 1. In combination, a carton and a cover, said cover being adapted to be released at the front to be used as a swinging cover and selectively to be detached both front and back providing a removable cover to be removed and used as a carrying tray, said carton having a bottom, a front wall, a rear wall, a first end wall and a second end wall defining an enclosure, said front wall, said first end wall, said second end wall and said rear wall rising upwardly from said bottom and terminating at upper edges all disposed at substantially the same distance from the said bottom, said cover having a front flange, a rear flange, a first end flange, a second end flange, and a smooth one-piece top, said top being of substantially the same area as said carton bottom, said flanges being fixed to said top and extending downward therefrom, said flanges having extensions from said top downwardly of substantially less than half the extension of said walls of said carton upwardly from said bottom, said flanges being fixed together at the adjacent edges, a scored line extending across said rear wall of said carton parallel to the top of said rear wall defining a hinge flap, said scored line being spaced below said rear wall top edge approximately the distance equal to the width of said flanges, means fixing said rear flange of said cover to said hinge flap of said carton whereby said cover can be used as a swinging cover, said means fixing said rear flange to said hinge flap comprising an adhesive weak in tension yet strong in shear whereby said cover can be removed and used as a tray having a bottom and four sides to carry two reams of paper.
 2. The carton recited in claim 1 wherein said front of said cover is attached to said front wall of said carton by means of an adhesive strong in shear but weak in tension.
 3. The carton recited in claim 1 wherein said carton is made from a single piece of cardboard.
 4. The carton recited in claim 1 wherein said carton is for storing and transporting paper.
 5. The carton recited in claim 1 wherein at least one carry pack is supported in said carton, said carry pack is made of a single piece of cardboard. 